Most of the writers I know keep blogs – at least the “current” writers. John Scalzi, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, John Brown, David Brin, are among the many who write and blog.
I may not be famous, but I too, write and blog.
It’s just that lately, I’m been wondering if it’s such a good idea.
My blogging schedule is as follows:
Sunday: I rotate between POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS, Slice of PIE, and WRITING ADVICE. These take some real work because I think about what I’m saying and frequently have to do some amount of research.
Tuesday: IDEAS On Tuesday. This has become fairly straightforward because I’m made a list of science fiction, fantasy and horror tropes then try to smash them with a new twist or idea. I also base them on something current, so that involves a little research sometimes.
Thursday: Fiction On Thursday. In this, I rotate between three or four works in progress. Keeping in mind that posting on my blog = publication, this is ALWAYS a first draft of whatever I’m working on. Typically once the piece is finished, I pull it down, it sits in the computer for a bit and then I start the editing process.
Saturday: I blog on a different site called Guy’s Gotta Talk – About Breast Cancer (http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/), a blog about a husband’s view of the breast cancer life.
I’ve always viewed my blog as an exercise regimen – I have to keep to a schedule and produce a certain number of words. I figure I write about 2000 words a week on the blogs.
I also have a work in progress called OMNIVORE’S DEBT and I write about 1000-2000 words a week. I’m editing a few more down to send off to Karen Grencik at Red Fox Literary and I’m constantly scribbling new ideas and dinking around with this story and that.
The question is NOT a cry to find out “who reads my blog” or a whine that “no one reads my posts”. I’m just looking for discussion and/or input to give me a little more grist while I mull over the efficacy of maintaining a blog. The question then:
Is posting the way I am doing now a good use of my writing time or should I stop so I can focus on my work in progress? ALL thoughts appreciated!
2 comments:
Hello there. To be quite honest my thoughts were, 'well if blogging words exceeds fiction that's not good. Unless you see yourself primarily as a blogger rather than a writer.
If blogging is exercise, is it paying back the time invested?
Just my two pennyworth.
Deborah: Good point -- not one I'd thought of. Blogging started out for me as an exercise and an atempt to "get my name out there".
While it still IS to "get my name out there", it is much more about "exercising" and it forces me to write even when I don't feel inspired because I made a commitment to write every time I said I would and while I'm sometimes late (I'm a school counselor and some times of the year are busier than others), I find that in the long run, my blog is a good form of exercise for me. If I was as fiathful with bikng, I'd probably be in excellent condition!
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